Celebrating May Day
May Day has long been a powerful day of action for working people across the globe. It’s a time to honor the labor movement’s historic fights for dignity, livable wages, and safe working conditions. On May 1st, care workers are gathering with allies across the state to send a powerful message: Stop the Deportations, Hands Off Medicaid!
See May Day 2025 pictures here.
Resisting attacks on Medicaid
Republicans in congress are jeopardizing the lives and futures of millions of Americans – older adults, children, people with disabilities, veterans – by trying to dismantle federal health programs and agencies like Medicaid, Social Security, the Department of Education, and the Veteran’s Administration. Why? To amass power and hoard more wealth for billionaires and huge corporations.
But we aren’t backing down. This month we continued our work to protect Medicaid from proposed budget cuts in Congress including attending rallies, sharing our stories, and making phone calls.
Our pressure seems to be paying off. California District 22 Representative David Valadao and District 40 Representative Young Kim’s office signed onto a letter to Congress to strengthen Medicaid and prioritize our most vulnerable populations. We have to keep the pressure on to ensure they don’t stray from this position.
Standing up for immigrant workers
As you know, the Trump administration continues to demonize and attack immigrant and refugee communities across the country. From ICE raids, to revoking the protected status of refugees, to targeting green card holders for protected political speech – they’re ignoring due process and blowing past the checks and balances that ensure our democracy.
In the first three months of 2025, we conducted more than 19 “Know Your Rights” trainings across the state that were attended by nearly 700 people. These trainings educate members on their constitutional rights, including what they need to know if they come face to face with ICE agents.
Improving Care Jobs in 2025
We know that when a climate crisis strikes, caregivers are essential to keeping our communities safe. Watch this video to hear Los Angeles IHSS worker and SEIU 2015 member, Michelle, tell her story about responding to the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. To continue strengthening the long-term care workforce, we need to maximize our worker power.
This year, one of our biggest and boldest campaigns is “Our Care Counts” – a legislative effort to secure statewide collective bargaining for California IHSS providers by passing AB 283. This bill would create one unified bargaining table for all IHSS workers in the state. Click here to learn more.
Until then, we’re still negotiating IHSS contracts county-by-county – here are some updates:
I’m excited to share that San Joaquin IHSS providers have reached a tentative contract agreement with county officials that includes a $1.57 wage increase, which will bring providers $2.07 dollars above minimum wage.
Meanwhile, IHSS providers in Los Angeles County have kicked off their campaign for a stronger contract. We recently learned the county’s budget presentation failed to address a quarter of a million care providers, while the county prepared a settlement payout to sex abuse claims for $4 billion dollars. We’re gearing up to keep the pressure and to send a clear message to the Board: prioritize care and don’t let the county’s sex abuse lawsuits fall on the backs of the county’s largest low-wage workforce.
IHSS workers in Alameda, Santa Clara, Monterey, Tulare, Kings Inyo, and Yolo are also currently bargaining new union contracts that will help fix the care crisis happening across those counties. Click here for details about these campaigns.
Local 2015 members at Homebridge, a private home care agency in San Francisco, took action to make progress toward their next union contract. These workers spoke out at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting to support funding for the essential in-home and community-based care they provide across the county. Click here for photos from the action.
Our diversity is our strength
SEIU Local 2015 members in Los Angeles joined other community groups for an Interfaith Labor Seder Dinner to honor the ancient tradition of Seder, a Jewish ritual service that goes back thousands of years that involves a ceremonial dinner to celebrate the first nights of Passover.
And in May we’ll be celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We’re planning events in Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Elk Grove to honor the cultures, histories, and contributions of these diverse communities. And throughout the month we’ll be lifting up stories of our AANHPI members to recognize the strength and resilience that shape our communities.